Phase-locked loop

A phase-locked loop (PLL) is a control system that generates an output signal whose phase is fixed relative to the phase of an input signal. Keeping the input and output phase in lockstep also implies a constant relationship between input and output frequencies. By incorporating a frequency divider, a PLL can generate a stable frequency that is a multiple of the input frequency.

These properties are used for clock synchronization, demodulation, frequency synthesis, clock multipliers, and signal recovery from a noisy communication channel. Since 1969, a single integrated circuit can provide a complete PLL building block, and nowadays has output frequencies from a fraction of a hertz up to many gigahertz. Thus, PLLs are widely employed in radio, telecommunications, computers (e.g. to distribute precisely timed clock signals in microprocessors), grid-tie inverters (electronic power converters used to integrate DC renewable resources and storage elements such as photovoltaics and batteries with the power grid), and other electronic applications.